Beneath the Planet of the Apes Review: The world's oddest sequel

Beneath the Planet of the Apes is an... interesting movie. I was so excited after watching the phenomenal first movie, as I found that movie to be perfectly concluded and had no idea where the film crew would take a sequel. And let's just say the movie was certainly not what I expected. Now, without further ado, I, Brighton Nelson of The Reel Ranker present to you today's article: a Beneath the Planet of the Apes Review: The world's oddest sequel.

This movie starts with Taylor going missing and our new protagonist, Brent, crash landing on the Planet of the Apes. Oddly, Brent looks quite similar and acts quite similar to Taylor. Frankly, he feels like a discount version of Taylor. And the whole first half of this movie follows suit, feeling like a discount version of the original. For the first two acts, this movie follows this trend: a mediocre rehash of the masterful original. The pacing feels incredibly rushed and poorly acted compared to the original, with Brent's introduction to the bizarre world feeling utterly forced and unusually unnatural. It was painful to watch this movie hit all the same beats but without any of the original's lightning-in-a-bottle flair or ingenious social commentary. Brent basically stumbles into the ape society—unfazed and unbelievably dull to watch—and meets up with Zira and Cornelius, from whom he receives a map before going off to look for Taylor. This approach to the sequel was destined for failure, as it is far too similar and unoriginal that it almost feels like a parody of its far superior predecessor. Also, as a side note, I don't think James Fransiscus was bad as Brent or was wrong for the role, but the rushed screenplay and uncanny resemblance to Taylor didn't work for me. Let's move on to the second act.

Thankfully, this act does a couple of things that make it more interesting than the first. Brent discovers an abandoned subway station that reveals to him that he is on future Earth, just like the iconic scene from the previous movie. However, unlike that iconic scene, the filmography, acting, screenplay, and overall direction cause the sequence to ring hollow. Brent then stumbles upon humans who survived the apocalypse, and this is where the movie gets absolutely absurd. It is revealed these surviving humans are psychological mutants with inhumane looks and are religiously obsessed with an armed nuclear bomb. Yes, you read that right; people who haven't watched this film in a while... this truly is one of the most absurd films ever made. The sequel to one of the most tangible and scientifically possible sci-fi films ever made featuring a religious cult of mutants worshipping a bomb? It is absolutely whack.

I will admit that, in this sequel, I did want to understand why humanity became the way it did due to nuclear fallout. It was a great concept to delve into for the sequel, but the sudden shift from believable, mediocre rehash to zany, off-the-walls experimental sci-fi was a jarring tonal change. While some movies are able to cleverly utilize tonal shifts (like La La Land or even the third movie in the series, Escape from the Planet of the Apes), this movie is the cut-and-dry definition of tonal whiplash. While any sci-fi franchise can set its own rules and boundaries of how deep down the rabbit hole it can or should go, this movie breaks all the conventions of the original. And not in a good way.

The third act continues as Brent is thrown into a jail cell by one of the mind-controlling mutants. But, shocker, Taylor is in the cell with him. We then get perhaps the most entertaining scene in the movie (outside of the awful CGI Taylor disappearance at the beginning): Brent and Taylor must fight to the death by the will of the mutant captor. Naturally, no harm is done by the end of the scene, as the two look-alike men take out the mutant. After this scene, I finally thought the film was about to get great. Granted, very little had happened so far, and my modern-cinema, 3-hour-blockbuster brain convinced me I was only about halfway through the film, thinking it could somehow be redeemed, but alas, I was disappointed.

After escaping and Nova getting unceremoniously killed, Taylor and discount-Taylor go to put an end to the CGI-wielding, bomb-worshipping madmen. Yet, of course, the movie gets even bolder and more absurd, killing both of "the Taylors" in a shocking scene. Yep, the entire main cast is dead mere minutes after they break out of jail and, honestly, only several minutes after we are introduced to the main antagonists of the film. How nice. Typically, killing off a main character is either brilliantly gut-wrenching and emotional or stupid as all heck. Naturally, like everything about this movie, the second option is the case. As Taylor collapses to the floor in his final moments, he flips the switch, activating the nuclear bomb, tired of how dreadful Earth's current existence is. And then? The movie ends. Earth yet again has a nuclear fallout, but this time, there are no survivors. Well, technically, there are three, but I'll get to that in my next review of the series—anyway, now it is time for the verdict.

The Reel Ranker Verdict

Reel or Unreel? - Unreel
The Reel Ranker Score: 46%
Letter Score: D+
Star Ranking: 2.5 out of 5

All I felt after watching this movie was dissatisfaction and bamboozling bewilderment. I had no clue how to even take in the experience I had just watched. Outside of the hilarious scenes with bad CGI or a choir worshipping the divine bomb and the action-packed protagonist face-off, this movie adds very little to the original film for me. Honestly, it leaves a sour taste in my mouth that Taylor didn't get a happy ending where he came to peace with the Planet of the Apes. With its bland first two acts and bizarre third act, this movie really didn't work for me on any level outside of ironic humor and shock value. However, I could definitely understand if somebody liked the absurdness of the third act, and frankly, if somebody loved this movie, I would understand why, even though I can't agree.

Nevertheless, I am still glad this misguided mess is a film because of its setup for the next movie, which also stands with the original as one of my favorite films of all time. I simply can't recommend this film for any reason outside of its ingenious setup for the third film. This film is easily the weak link of the original five films. I'm not mad... I'm just disappointed.

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